''The Sea Wolves'' is a 1980

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

starring Gregory Peck, Roger Moore and

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in ''Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

. The film, which is based on the 1978 book ''Boarding Party'' by

James Leasor James Leasor (20 December 1923 – 10 September 2007) was a prolific British author, who wrote historical books and thrillers. A number of Leasor's works were made into films, including his 1978 book, ''Boarding Party'', about an incident from ...

, is a fictionalised account of Operation Creek during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In the covert mission, the

Calcutta Light Horse The Calcutta Light Horse was raised in 1872 and formed part of the Cavalry Reserve in the British Indian Army. The regiment was disbanded following India's independence in 1947. Operation Creek On reserve since the Boer War, they are most note ...

, part of the Cavalry Reserve in the

British Indian Army The British Indian Army, commonly referred to as the Indian Army, was the main military of the British Raj before its dissolution in 1947. It was responsible for the defence of the British Indian Empire, including the princely states, which co ...

, successfully sank a German merchant ship in

Mormugão Mormugao is a seaport city situated in the eponymous Mormugao taluka (municipality) of the South district, in the Goa state, India. It has a deep natural harbour and remains Goa's chief port. Towards the end of the Indo-Portuguese era in 191 ...

Harbour in neutral

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

's territory of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

, India on 9 March 1943. The ship had a secret radio which was transmitting information about Allied shipping to

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

operating in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. The film, which starred veteran American and British actors, was produced by

Euan Lloyd Euan Lloyd (6 December 1923 – 2 July 2016) was a British film producer. Biography He began his career directing short travelogue documentaries, starting with '' April in Portugal'' in 1954 (not released until 1956). He worked in publicity ...

and directed by

Andrew V. McLaglen Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. According to one obituary "His career ...

. Both had worked previously together on the successful 1978 British-Swiss war film ''

The Wild Geese ''The Wild Geese'' is a 1978 war film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and starring Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris, and Hardy Krüger. The screenplay concerns a group of mercenaries in Africa. It was the result of a long-held ambit ...

''.

Plot

During World War II, U-boats are sinking thousands of tons of British

merchant shipping Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used thro ...

in the Indian Ocean. British intelligence, based in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, believes that information is being passed to the

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s by a radio transmitter hidden on board one of three German merchant ships

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

, then a

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...

of Portugal. Since Portugal is

neutral Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction in ...

, the ships cannot be attacked by conventional forces. The head of the Indian section of the

Special Operations Executive The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a secret British World War II organisation. It was officially formed on 22 July 1940 under Minister of Economic Warfare Hugh Dalton, from the amalgamation of three existing secret organisations. Its pu ...

(SOE) authorises attempts to kidnap and interrogate two known German agents, but these operations both fail. An approach is then made to a

Territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

unit of British expatriates, the

, to carry out the mission on its behalf. They all volunteer – all are trained in military skills and keen to 'do their bit'. Whilst the volunteers are trained, Stewart and Cartwright travel covertly to Goa. By a mixture of blackmail and bribery, they arrange diversions on the night of the raid. A party is to be held in the Governor's palace, a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

will offer free entry to sailors from ships in the port and a Carnival with fireworks will be held. Stewart has a brief affair with Mrs. Cromwell, a mysterious and socially well-connected woman, who turns out to be a German agent and the main conduit to the German 'Master Spy', known to the Germans and the British by the code-name ''Trompeta'' (Trumpet). She is eventually killed by Stewart, after she attempts to kill him but not before she's killed Jack Cartwright. The raiding party sail around the coast in a decrepit and barely seaworthy

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

; they set mines on the hull of the German ships in Goa. They then board one which is being used to transmit signals to U-boats, catching the depleted crew off-guard. Despite Pugh's order that there be no shooting, several German sailors are killed. The ship is set alight and the party withdraws, watching as the ship sinks. The final scene shows a surfacing German U-boat which is expecting to hear a signal from the now sunken ship.

Cast

* Gregory Peck as

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

Lewis Henry Owain Pugh,

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

(who later rose to the rank of

major-general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

) * Roger Moore as

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Gavin Stewart (the real Gavin Stewart was a colonel) *

as Colonel W.H. Grice *

Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 September 1913 – 7 January 1988) was an English stage, film, and television actor. After varied work in the theatre, he achieved star status with his role in the film ''Brief Encounter'' (1945), followed by ''T ...

as Jack Cartwright *

Barbara Kellerman Barbara Rose Kellerman (originally spelt Kellermann; born 30 December 1949) is an English actress, known for her film and television roles. She trained at Rose Bruford College. Kellerman was born in Manchester, Lancashire. Her Jewish fath ...

as Mrs. Agnes Cromwell *

Patrick Macnee Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British film and television actor. After serving in the Royal Navy during World War II, he began his acting career in Canada. Despite having some small film roles, Macnee spent much ...

as Major 'Yogi' Crossley *

Kenneth Griffith Kenneth Griffith (born Kenneth Reginald Griffiths, 12 October 1921 – 25 June 2006) was a Welsh actor and documentary filmmaker. His outspoken views made him a controversial figure, especially when presenting documentaries which have been ca ...

as Wilton *

Patrick Allen John Keith Patrick Allen (17 March 1927 – 28 July 2006) was a British actor. Life and career Allen was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi), where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada ...

Colin Mackenzie Colonel Colin Mackenzie CB (1754–8 May 1821) was Scottish army officer in the British East India Company who later became the first Surveyor General of India. He was a collector of antiquities and an orientalist. He surveyed southern India, ...

Wolf Kahler Wolf Kahler (born 3 April 1940) is a German stage, film, television, and voice actor. Since 1975, he appeared in many English language US and UK television and film productions. One of his early roles was Kaiser Wilhelm II in Michael York's ...

as Trompeta *

Robert Hoffmann Robert Hoffmann (30 August 1939 – 4 July 2022) was an Austrian actor, best known to British audiences for his title role performance in '' The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe'' (1964). Hoffmann was born in Salzburg. ''Crusoe'' was his screen d ...

as U-boat

Kapitän Kapitän is the German word for Captain. It is also a shortened version of several ranks in the German navy, ranging from Korvettenkapitän to Kapitän zur See. The general meaning is equivalent to Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for ...

Dan van Husen Dan van Husen (30 April 1945 – 31 May 2020) was a German actor. He started his career in the 1960s, playing in a number of Spaghetti Westerns (usually he was cast as the bad guy), and also performed in Italian and German films by renowned dire ...

as U-boat First Officer *

George Mikell George Mikell (born Jurgis Mikelaitis; 4 April 1929 – 12 May 2020) was a Lithuanian-Australian actor and writer best known for his performances as Schutzstaffel (SS) officers in '' The Guns of Navarone'' (1961) and '' The Great Escape'' (196 ...

of ''Ehrenfels'' * Jürgen Andersen as First Officer of ''Ehrenfels'' * Bernard Archard as Underhill * Martin Benson as Mr. Montero * Faith Brook as Mrs. Doris Grice *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Dickie Melborne * Edward Dentith as Lumsdaine *

Clifford Earl Clifford Earl (29 August 1933 – 30 July 2015) was an English actor who appeared in numerous television programmes and films. Early years Earl was born Kenneth Clifford Earl on 29 August 1933 in Romney Marsh, Kent, England. He carried out his ...

as Sloane * Vice Admiral RKS Ghandhi as the Governor * Percy Herbert as Dennison *

Patrick Holt Patrick Holt (31 January 1912 – 12 October 1993) was an English film and television actor. Biography Born Patrick G. Parsons in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Holt spent some of his childhood in India with his uncle, after which he was sent ...

as Barker *

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and '' A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

as Hilliard *

Glyn Houston Glyn Houston (23 October 1925 – 30 June 2019) was a Welsh actor best known for his television work. He was the younger brother of film actor Donald Houston. Early life Glyndwr Desmond Houston was born at 10 Thomas Street, Tonypandy, Glamorgan ...

as Peters * Victor Langley as Williamson *

Terence Longdon Terence Longdon (14 May 1922 – 23 April 2011) was an English actor. Biography Born Hubert Tuelly Longdon in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England. During World War II, Longdon was a pilot with the Fleet Air Arm, protecting Atlantic conv ...

as Malverne *

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin, OBE (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He ...

as Radcliffe * W. Morgan Sheppard as 'Patch' Lovecroft *

John Standing Sir John Ronald Leon, 4th Baronet (born 16 August 1934) is an English actor and baronet who is known as John Standing. He is the stepson of John Clements. Early life Standing was born in London, the son of Kay Hammond (née Dorothy Katherin ...

as Finley *

Graham Stark Graham William Stark (20 January 1922 – 29 October 2013) was an English comedian, actor, writer and director. Early life The son of a purser on transatlantic liners,

as Don Manners * Keith Stevenson as Manuel * Jack Watson as Maclean *

Moray Watson Moray Robin Philip Adrian Watson (25 June 1928 – 2 May 2017) was an English actor from Sunningdale, Berkshire. Life Watson was born in Sunningdale, Berkshire, to Gerard Arthur Watson (1901–1940), a ship broker, who was killed during World ...

as Breene *

Brook Williams Brook Richard Williams (22 January 1938 – 29 April 2005) was a British stage actor who also made numerous film and television appearances in small roles. Biography His father was the Welsh playwright and actor Emlyn Williams. His older broth ...

as Butterworth *

Marc Zuber Zubair Ahmed Siddiqi (5 May 1944 – 28 May 2003), better known as Marc Zuber, was an actor who appeared in many British and Hindi films and television dramas. Marc Zuber was born Zubair Ahmed Siddiqi on 5 May 1944 in Lucknow, India. He ca ...

as Ram Das Gupta * Mohan Agashe as the Brothel Keeper

Production

Development

The film was originally known as ''Boarding Party''. According to the documentary ''The Last of the Gentleman Producers'', producer Euan Lloyd says that he originally planned to reunite Moore with Wild Geese co-stars

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...

and

Richard Harris Richard St John Francis Harris (1 October 1930 – 25 October 2002) was an Irish actor and singer. He appeared on stage and in many films, notably as Corrado Zeller in Michelangelo Antonioni's '' Red Desert'', Frank Machin in '' This Sporting ...

as Pugh and Grice. Fifty percent of the budget was provided by Lorimar. They fell out with United Artists, their distributor, before the film was delivered. Lorimar subsequently formed a new relationship with Paramount but producer Euan Lloyd thought that studio regarded the film as "the poor cousin" and as a result it "wasn't sold properly".

Casting

The film reunited much of the cast and crew from 1978's ''

'', including actors Roger Moore, Kenneth Griffith, Jack Watson, Percy Herbert, Patrick Allen, Brook Williams, Patrick Holt and Terence Longdon, writer

Reginald Rose Reginald Rose (December 10, 1920 – April 19, 2002) was an American screenwriter. He wrote about controversial social and political issues. His realism (arts), realistic approach was particularly influential in the anthology programs of the ...

, producer

, director

, designer

Syd Cain Sydney B. Cain (16 April 1918 – 21 November 2011) was a British production designer who worked on more than 30 films, including four in the James Bond series in the 1960s and 1970s. Biography Cain was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire. After enl ...

, and composer

Roy Budd Roy Frederick Budd (14 March 1947 – 7 August 1993) was a British jazz pianist and composer known for his film scores, including ''Get Carter'' and ''The Wild Geese''. Early life Born in South Norwood, South London, Budd became interested in mu ...

Filming

Filming took place on location in Goa, India.

Soundtrack

The title music for ''The Sea Wolves'' was adapted by

from the famous ''

Warsaw Concerto The ''Warsaw Concerto'' is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell, written for the 1941 British film '' Dangerous Moonlight'', which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany. In performance it norma ...

'' of composer

Richard Addinsell Richard Stewart Addinsell (13 January 190414 November 1977) was an English composer, best known for film music, primarily his '' Warsaw Concerto'', composed for the 1941 film '' Dangerous Moonlight'' (also known under the later title ''Suicide S ...

. Budd had, at the time, already composed or arranged numerous other film scores, notably those of ''

'' and ''

Get Carter ''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detecti ...

''. For ''The Sea Wolves'', Budd added lyrics by

Leslie Bricusse Leslie Bricusse OBE (; 29 January 1931 – 19 October 2021) was a British composer, lyricist, and playwright who worked on theatre musicals and wrote theme music for films. He was best known for writing the music and lyrics for the films ''Do ...

to his, Budd's, arrangement of the ''Warsaw Concerto'' music, the resulting song being entitled ''The Precious Moments,'' sung by the British baritone

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the m ...

, who had also sung title tracks for many other films. Incidental music is from the

Reception

''The Sea Wolves'' holds a 40% "fresh" rating in Rotten Tomatoes. It is described as "a workmanlike film told in a non-flashy, straightforward way, featuring an all-star cast."

References

External links

* * * * *
Boarding Party
by

, 1978, 2011. * O Espião Alemão em Goa: SOE operation "Longshanks", 2nd edition – José António Barreiros
A comic movie poster of The Sea Wolves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Wolves 1980 films 1980s historical films 1980s war films British historical films British war films Films based on British novels Films directed by Andrew McLaglen Films set in Goa Films set on ships Films shot in England Films shot in India Paramount Pictures films Seafaring films based on actual events War adventure films World War II films based on actual events World War II naval films Films with screenplays by Reginald Rose Films scored by Roy Budd Films shot in Goa 1980s English-language films 1980s British films